Gravel driveway maintenance

Did a little touch-up on my gravel drive today with the box blade. I have worked it with the loader, but this is the first time I really got in there with the box. Suffice it to say, I'll never go back to the loader again if I don't have to. The box did a great job, both at aggressive leveling and removing ruts, and finish spreading. My method was to do one or two passes down the driveway with the box tilted forward aggressively, to help level the base and to scrape off as much of the plants growing in the drive was possible, then a few passes with the box just barely tilted backwards, to pull the piles of material back over the area, then a final pass or two with the box tilted hard backwards to put the final finish on it. It was interesting to see what a difference just a few turns of the top link made in that middle position. With the box hard forward, it dug in pretty much no matter what. With the box hard backward, it slid over, no matter what. But in that middle position, just a few turns of the top link made the difference between carrying and spreading the pile and just dumping it all out the back in the first few feet of travel.

One issue that I don't know how to solve is how to keep gravel from spreading off the side of the driveway. If I had a rake or a grader blade, I could pivot it to the side, to pull material towards the center. I wonder if I could cock the box blade slightly to the side with the sway bars to approximate that effect. Would that even do anything, since the material can't fall out the side of the box?

Here are some pics, because I know the policy. No tractor pics though. I was too busy working to take pics then.

I went back afterwards and, by hand, raked the gravel that was thrown into the grass back onto the drive. The indignity! By hand!

Re: Gravel driveway maintenance

Looks good. I too love a box blade for my 5,300 foot gravel drive. Not only does it leave a nice roadway, but it allows you to really stretch out having to add more expensive gravel all the time. Certainly some gravel does spill out on the sides. At first I moved the blade over next pass to catch it, and that widened the road a mite. Now I always run with the outer edge of the BB about six inches in from the edge. I build up a small ridge there after a while. I would hand-rake it out to allow water flow where that was needful, but basically I would rent a landscape rake locally for a half-day twice a year (cost $15 a half-day) and make a few passes with the rake angled toward the inside to pull in and spread those gravel ridges. Worked like a champ. However I bought an old, rusty rake today at a yard sale for $100. It's a Landmaster and has seen hard use. It's also missing 4 tines, but no big deal. I replaced the setting pin with a bolt to stiffen it up and raked the driveway successfully later today. I'll replace the missing tines eventually, and straighten out a few more. But it's nice to have a rake here all the time - and handy for pulling rocks out of the garden plots too.

The box blade does different tasks dependent on the top length setting, and you can get an hydraulic top link so you can do adjustments from the seat if you wish. I don't change it enough to warrant the expense. And my tractor doesn't have a remote available anyway.

Re: Gravel driveway maintenance

Re: Gravel driveway maintenance

Originally Posted by DKCDKC

The box blade does different tasks dependent on the top length setting, and you can get an hydraulic top link so you can do adjustments from the seat if you wish. I don't change it enough to warrant the expense. And my tractor doesn't have a remote available anyway.

Boy, howdy did I see the advantage of a hydraulic top link today! I was on and off the tractor getting things just right. And I did a section of the drive at a time, so I made all the adjustments more than once.

Another issue with the box blade, that I forgot to mention, is that it just left the big pile of material at the end of the run. With a rake or grader blade, it would create a windrow that I would straddle. As it is, I had to back over the big pile to go back to the start of the run, and then run over it again at the end of the next run in order to combine the piles. Not ideal, as it spread the pile out and made it harder to pick up and spread back out again after the leveling had been done. Don't get me wrong: it's a great tool! But I can see where a grader blade or rake would do the job a little better in some respects.

Re: Gravel driveway maintenance

Originally Posted by joshuabardwell

Boy, howdy did I see the advantage of a hydraulic top link today! I was on and off the tractor getting things just right. And I did a section of the drive at a time, so I made all the adjustments more than once.

Another issue with the box blade, that I forgot to mention, is that it just left the big pile of material at the end of the run. With a rake or grader blade, it would create a windrow that I would straddle. As it is, I had to back over the big pile to go back to the start of the run, and then run over it again at the end of the next run in order to combine the piles. Not ideal, as it spread the pile out and made it harder to pick up and spread back out again after the leveling had been done. Don't get me wrong: it's a great tool! But I can see where a grader blade or rake would do the job a little better in some respects.

So are you ready to purchase that hydraulic top link now? Only $250+ shipping cost for a complete kit. That's the top link, hoses with QD ends and a flow restrictor.

Re: Gravel driveway maintenance

At least on my road, which is new and dealing with heavy construction traffic from homebuilding, ruts form. If I go down the edge, the box collect material from the edge of the driveway, fills the box, and then naturally starts depositing it in the ruts.

Normally, I do the first pass down the middle to knock down the hump and move material into the ruts from the center on out. Then a pass down the edges to move material from the edge into the ruts. And then reduce the box's angle of attack so that only the rear cutter is touching, and make passes to smooth/blend everything out.

Since this is a new road that is still settling out and dealing with high construction traffic, the situation may not be typical. It's obvious that the road base is still migrating around a bit. But from what I have seen, the box will naturally pull material from high spots and deposit it in low spots.

My box is not letting material spill out the side edge -- to me, that would be the sign of too aggressive of an angle of attack.

Re: Gravel driveway maintenance

Originally Posted by joshuabardwell

Boy, howdy did I see the advantage of a hydraulic top link today! I was on and off the tractor getting things just right. And I did a section of the drive at a time, so I made all the adjustments more than once.

I'm lucky that I can adjust my top link from the seat by reaching around back. I know where the max angle is, and set the stop nut there. Then at the end, to lessen the angle of attack for smoothing, back off from the nut by a certain amount (eyeball it). Over time, I bet you'll know where/how to set it by eye.